Col. Eric Axelbank, seen in an undated USAF courtesy photo accessed Tuesday Sept. 4, 2012, is a 1990 distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC program and a 2003 distinguished graduate of the Air Command and Staff College, according to his published bio. A career Logistics Readiness Officer, he has served in a broad range of logistics readiness, aircraft maintenance and personnel assignments at the joint, headquarters Air Force, center and wing levels. The 37th Training Wing is Colonel Axelbank's fourth command position, having commanded three times prior within the U.S. Air Forces in Europe and the Pacific Air Forces theaters. Before arriving at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, Colonel Axelbank served as the Vice Commander, 65th Air Base Wing, Lajes Field, Azores, Portugal.

Col. Eric Axelbank, seen in an undated USAF courtesy photo accessed Tuesday Sept. 4, 2012, is a 1990 distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC program and a 2003 distinguished graduate of the Air Command and

After a little more than a year on the job, Air Force Col. Eric Axelbank stepped down Tuesday as head of a training wing here that has been rocked by a growing sex scandal.

He handed command of the 37th Training Wing to Col. Mark Camerer during a ceremony on Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland that was uncharacteristically closed to the media.

The Air Force has said it is making leadership changes to help implement new guidelines for training. Axelbank's exit has been described as routine, while two other Lackland officers lost their jobs, but one critic said new people aren't enough to fix what she calls a broken system.

“The abuse at Lackland and throughout our military did not begin with this most recent scandal. And it will not end by removing three colonels,” said Nancy Parrish, founder of Protect Our Defenders, a victims advocacy group. “The military culture and broken legal system is so heavily weighted against the victim, that structural changes are required to fix this systemic crisis.”

The command change occurred one day before another instructor, Master Sgt. Jamey Crawford, goes on trial on charges of having sex with a trainee.

Retired generals, the fifth chief master sergeant of the Air Force, Robert Gaylor, and area officials and civic leaders attended at the base's Gateway Club as Maj. Gen. Leonard Patrick, head of the 2nd Air Force, installed Camerer, a cargo and tanker pilot who headed an airlift wing at Dover AFB, Del., as the new commander.

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“It's a big job, a tough job,” Patrick, a former 37th Training Wing commander, was quoted as saying in an Air Force public affairs story. “Eric spent nights, weekends and holidays working the job. He was a great wingman.”

Command change ceremonies are ordinarily open to the media, and the San Antonio Express-News asked to cover this one but never received an answer. Dave Smith, a spokesman for the Air Education and Training Command, said he did not know why it wasn't open.

Axelbank, who abruptly cancelled an Aug. 15 interview after receiving questions reporters were to ask, was at the center of a scandal that has raised questions about Lackland's leadership. So far, 17 military training instructors, all men, are under investigation for pursing relationships with 42 women who were in boot camp and technical school.

While overseeing the Air Force's largest training wing, Axelbank, who is transferring to the Pentagon, saw two lower-level commanders dismissed.

He relieved Col. Glenn Palmer, who came to Lackland in June 2011 and commanded the 737th Training Group, which oversees the Air Force's sole boot camp.

Palmer relieved Lt. Col. Mike Paquette as commander of the 331st Training Squadron, where nine of the 17 accused instructors were assigned. Crawford and Staff Sgt. Kwinton Estacio, who goes on trial next week on charges of sexually assaulting a woman in basic training, were both in the squadron.

The reason cited in the pair of firings was a “loss of confidence” in their leadership. The Air Force has been tight-lipped about what prompted the removals, saying only that in Paquette's case he ought to have been aware of what was going on in his squadron. They've said nothing about the dismissal of Palmer, who led efforts to raise awareness about the problem.

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Gen. Edward Rice Jr., head of the Air Force's training command, would not discuss those dismissals directly. He said those officers' immediate supervisors made those calls, and suggested the newspaper talk with them. No one has offered to do that.

“But in general it's important, I think, for your readers to understand that command is not a rank, it's not something that's promised and if you are removed from command it does not have to be the result of an investigation,” Rice said. “It can be something as simple as we think that we need a different set of skills in the position or we've lost confidence in the commander to execute their duties.”